Dick Morris is right on in picking Network News as the (2nd biggest) loser in the Iraqi War. I sat through a Dan Rather newscast at a restaurant a month ago and almost left before my roast beef arrived. I cannot imagine turning to Brokaw/Jennings/Rather for war coverage, and looking at the ratings, I am not alone.
"The arrogance of the networks' news coverage has ultimately cost them their audience. The assumption that we would wait to hear of the fate of our sons and daughters until Rather, Jennings, and Brokaw were good and ready to show up in a television studio to tell us was the most arrogant of all. When the networks opted to run entertainment programs during prime time, they were signaling their end as serious news organizations. How ironic that NBC would prefer its fictional show 'The West Wing' over real news from the same offices."
I won't join Morris in complaining that prime-time drivel was broadcast--it's great that other options are available. Yet I am cheered that the nation is now moving away from taking the nets more seriously than they deserve.